


The Angel and The Trap

by LouiseLouise



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Angels & Demons, Angel Buck, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood Magic, First Meetings, M/M, Non-Consensual Body Modification, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:41:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25772251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LouiseLouise/pseuds/LouiseLouise
Summary: Prompt:Buck is the angel villagers sacrifice to the “demons" in the woods. Turns out demons are not evil just a tribe that lives in the forbidden Forest. They don’t understand why the villagers keep sending them angels...
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Comments: 27
Kudos: 170
Collections: AUgust 2020





	The Angel and The Trap

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING for blood magic & body modification, more on that in the end notes (mild spoilers for the story)
> 
> Written for [AUgust writing Challenge](https://augustwritingchallenge.tumblr.com/post/621653119656493056/the-list-of-prompts-was-completed-one-prompt-per). Day 4 is: Angels & Demons. Thank you [Gage](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gage) for the awesome prompt!
> 
> Thank you [marciaelena](https://archiveofourown.org/users/marciaelena) for the beta! All remaining mistakes are mine, English is not my first language.

“They did it again,” Buck hears a woman say. He tries to move but fails, both due to the restraints tying him up against the tree and the effect of whatever he was forced to drink.

He tries to recall how he got into this mess. There was a kid’s voice, a prayer that he remembers following; he remembers materializing in a small room only to realize that the voice was a recording and the prayer a trap. Strong arms held him down while something was poured down his throat, a salty potion that made his limbs go numb and robbed him of all conscious thought.

*

The first time he comes to, there’s a group of men tying him up to a tree. He pleads and begs and makes promises he’s not sure he can keep, but he’s an angel, and people are supposed to believe him no matter what. Not that he’s had to prove it that often but when he does, unfurling his wings tends to be enough.

His captors won’t listen, though, so he fights against his restraints, trying to free his wings, but the ropes are too tight.

“Why are you doing this?” he asks.

A young boy walks up to him. “We need you to protect us from the demons in the forest.”

“I can’t protect you if you tie me up.” He can do many things, almost miracles, but not tied up and still feeling the effects of the drug coursing through his veins.

“You _are_ helping,” the boy says. “The demons always leave us alone if we give them an angel of the sky.”

So that’s what Buck is, an offering. 

He remembers stories about angels being sacrificed, stories that almost never end well. Stories that serve as a warning but don’t present solutions to the kind of predicament he’s in.

It gets worse.

One of the men takes out a knife and Buck is helpless as he brings it to his wrist, piercing Buck’s skin to carve what looks like a rune. Buck wishes he could hold back the screams, but the pain in his arm spreads through his entire body and his heart can barely take it. 

Ignoring Buck’s distress, the man carves a different rune on Buck’s other wrist, and soon there’s blood dripping onto the ground. Buck tries to slow his breaths in an attempt to push the pain away, but he feels like every inch of his being is on fire. 

The mumbling and whispering of the men around him soon turn into chanting, and Buck hears the boy speak again.

“The blood of the Angel purifies the Earth and casts away Evil.”

Buck wishes it were that simple, because then at least his sacrifice wouldn’t be in vain. But he knows it’s not going to work; his blood is not enough to keep any demon at bay and protect an entire village. The demons will come for him and kill him for pleasure, possibly torturing him first, and then they’ll come back for the villagers. 

But if they didn’t believe he could help before starting the ritual there’s no chance that they’ll believe him now, so he stays silent as they leave the clearing and return to their homes with the illusion of having done what’s right.

Buck lets exhaustion weigh him down as his blood continues to drip to the ground, staining the roots of the tree. He chooses not to fight when he’s about to faint.

*

The second time he comes to, all he can hear is the woman’s voice as he’s being untied. She sounds kind, which is odd for a demon, but maybe the closeness of death doesn’t help him make sense of anything.

*

The third time he comes to, he’s lying on a mattress. A very comfortable mattress, in a room that smells of lavender and clean sheets, which is the opposite of what he pictured a demon cell would be like. Strangely enough he’s not restrained, so he tries to sit up. Maybe he has a chance to escape, if his body cooperates.

“Don’t,” a man that Buck didn’t realize was in the room with him says. 

Buck looks at the bandages around his wrists. The memory of the knife slicing his skin returns with vivid clarity, but he doesn’t feel any pain. Whatever the demons are planning for him, they’ve done a good job soothing his wounds.

“You’re still too weak to walk, trust me,” the man says. “You just need to wait for the drug they gave you to leave your system, then you’re free to go back to whatever it is you angels do.”

“You’re not a demon,” Buck says. It’s not a question. Every fiber of his angelic being can feel it; this man is not a demon, and he can be trusted.

The man shakes his head no. “I’m Eddie.” He smiles, and that’s one of the most gorgeous things Buck’s ever witnessed through all his years around humans.

“Buck.”

“Nice to meet you, Buck. Sorry about the circumstances,” Eddie says, waving at Buck’s bandages. 

Gorgeous and kind, and not a demon. It’s definitely not what Buck expected, and it leaves him a little unsettled.

“Did you rescue me before the demons could get to me?” he asks, because it’s all he can think of to explain his current situation.

Eddie chuckles. “Nope. No demons were coming to get you.” He hesitates for a second before sitting in the chair next to the bed. “You see, the villagers think we’re demons because we live in their Forbidden Forest, and they believe that if they leave angels as a sacrifice for us we won’t attack them.”

“Oh?”

“My people have lived in this forest for a very long time. It provides us with food and shelter and everything we need to build our homes, our lives. We don’t venture into the nearby villages, so we’re seen at best as outsiders and at worst as demons who need dark magic to survive.”

“Have you tried talking to the villagers?”

Eddie rolls his eyes. “Yeah, every once in a while one of us gets the bright idea that it’s possible to talk some sense into them. So they go to the villagers and explain who we are, ask them to stop trapping angels on our behalf.”

“And?”

“Most of the time they don’t come back. Imprisoned, or worse.”

“And you let that happen?” Buck feels horrified by the fate of the innocents trying to make things right.

“They’re idiots. We’re taught from birth to never engage with outsiders and why. We’re not going to risk more of our people to rescue those who think they’re smarter than centuries of elders.”

Fair point.

“No one remembers,” Eddie continues, “when the people in the villages started to think we were the devil’s children, but there’s not much we can do about it, so...”

“So you keep rescuing angels and nursing us back to health.”

Eddie nods.

“Why is this the first time I’m ever hearing about that, when it should be common knowledge among my kind?”

Eddie hums, taking a phial out of his pocket. “We can't let you leave knowing where we live.” 

The label on the glass is a symbol that Buck recognizes. They’re going to make him forget. 

“But we could help solve the problem. Take it to higher powers, do something about the villagers.”

Eddie grins, and Buck understands that he’s probably not the first one to make those same suggestions. “We’re better off without anyone else’s involvement.”

Buck nods. It doesn’t completely make sense to him; his kind can help, that’s what they’re meant for. But humans have free will, so it’s not his place to question the decision that Eddie’s people have made.

“When, then?”

“It varies, but it usually takes a week or so to recover from the wounds and for the pain to fade without medicine.” Eddie stands up and heads towards the door, the smile on his face a kind one now. “Until then you’re our guest. You’re welcome to join us if you want to live among humans for a while.”

Buck smiles back. “Thank you for the offer. And for taking care of this,” he says, lifting his bandaged wrists.

One week, he thinks. One week living with the humans he’s learned to protect from afar. What’s the worst that could happen? 

*

The worst that could happen, as an angel sent to protect people from afar, is for him to not be able to keep his distance. To get attached and never want to leave.

It’s to fall in love with someone he’s not supposed to fall in love with.

That’s a lesson that Buck is going to learn the hard way, in the soft arms of the human named Eddie.

**Author's Note:**

> Buck is captured and a blood ritual is performed against his will by carving runes on his wrists. The scene is no more graphically depicted than that, but still clear about what happens.
> 
> Thank you for reading! For likes and reblogs, you can find it on tumblr [there](https://theladyandthewolves.tumblr.com/post/625867765036859392/the-angel-and-the-trap).  
> Like always, I will treasure your kudos, emojis and comments ♥


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